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Monday, December 31, 2012

Bands like Tool, Radiohead and Porcupine Tree have taken the
listener into our deepest, darkest fears into their music that have been around
since the early ‘90s in the underground circuit, they have taken the listeners
into uncharted territories that is thrilling, terrifying, and haunting at the
same time that made them the new masters of the universe. It is almost the soundtrack
of someone going insane and trying to escape to be free, but there’s nowhere to
go and it feels like we’re inside the person and understand why he or she is
suffering from this mental breakdown and having PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder).

And one of the bands that are following in the footsteps of
those two bands is an Italian group named Demetra Sine Die, who have a touch of
the dark side and have been around since 2003 and the band considers Marco
Paddeu on lead vocals and guitar, Adriano Magliocco on bass, Marcello Fattore
on drums, and Matteo Orlandi on keyboards. Their second album, A Quiet Land of
Fear which is a follow up to their 2008 debut, Council From Kaos on the Bloodrock label, displays a
lot of obscure psych-prog-alternative music that is waiting for the door to be
burst open and waiting for something to hit like an eruptive explosion that
suddenly comes out of nowhere.

Marco’s momentum surroundings resembles Steven Wilson and
Mikael Akerfeldt with his vocal styles and fierce and dooming guitar lines that
creates a universal yet futuristic boundary and having this wall-of-feedback
for a thunderous energetic heaviness to make it sound like a chainsaw that is
ready to attack with some wowing moments is unexpected and soaring. Marcello
Fattore’s drumming who resembles Bill Bruford and at times Neil Peart, it
sounds like a machine gun fire from the time he hits the patterns and seeing
where his band mates would go into different directions.

Meanwhile, Matteo Orlandi’s synths make it a passage way
with his ambient-like noise and at times paying tribute to the Krautrock scene
as well of the early soundings of Tangerine Dream while bassist Adriano
Magliocco creates some pummeling and metallic bass lines that is challenging
and out of this world and he really goes up the top with his instrument and
makes this wonderful lines that is sonically structured and mind-blowing at the
same time.

This is a band that knows about the dark side and shows
their views of what we go through our lives and they are not showing off, and they
create some mythical and mysterious momentum in the album with a volcanic
eruption that is waiting to come at you with a bang and with a fierce
regulating control. I have listened to A Quiet Land of Fear about four times already and it is hypnotic, strange, and out of this world. If this was the soundtrack for one of Batman's villains, The Joker, who is still trying to make the caped crusader, the Killing Joke, it would be a perfect combination.

Sunday, December 30, 2012

Formed out of the ashes of Doom Metal band, Reverend
Bizarre, Finnish’s Orne was inspired by the early Progressive rock sounds of
early Floyd, King Crimson, Black Widow, and a touch of Julian’s Treatment and
their music has a mellowing and darker approach in their sound and atmospheric
beauty when it comes to Prog-Rock. Their second album, The Tree of Life, released under the Italian label, Black Widow Records, is the band’s finest achievement
and while the cover resembles Eve ready to bite the forbidden apple by the
snake and be banished from the garden along with Adam, it’s worth exploring.

Among other Doom-Prog Metal bands who come from Europe at
times including Canadian’s own Blood Ceremony, Orne take their inspiration of
the occult into an element of their love of stories from childhood growing up
as they were young including tales and illustrations from Tolkien, Brian Froud,
Berni Wrightson, and Richard Corben. It has a mellowing and harder edge to it
that makes it sound like it was recorded in 1970-71 with a psychedelic twist in
there and it feels like they could have recorded the soundtrack to Jim Henson’s
1982 classic, The Dark Crystal.

Beginning with a spoken introduction as it goes into a
middle-eastern rumbling calmness ambient atmosphere with drums, choir, and
mellotron on Angel Eyes as it segues into the elevated yet ominous organ-driven
roar along with a spooky guitar line in the midsection with an operatic feel on
the vocals that has a theatrical background on The Temple of the Worm. And then
a sample of the late Vincent Price comes for an introduction before going into
a tribute and inspiration of King Crimson’s moody piece Epitaph on The Return
of the Sorcerer while Don’t Look Now starts off with a moody Gothic-Acid folk surroundings for the first four minutes before it kicks into full gear of a
catchy upbeat tempo of guitars chugging, vocals going up, and organ plus drums
going into a thrilling beat to follow the rhythm and keeping in time.

Beloved Dead, sounds like a symphonic and grandiose folk
turned orchestral beauty piece as if it was left off the sessions for Barclay
James Harvest’s Once Again as it features nicely acoustic guitars, swirling yet
angelic and heavenly organ work for the first four minutes before it becomes a
raunchy heavy metallic ride with a bluesy feel for the ending of the hounds
coming at you. I Was Made Upon Waters starts off as a sermon about being born
on Good Friday starts off with a ride along the country with a psychedelic
twist before it becomes a relaxing spiritual coolness to give Orne a chance to breathe
and have the listener to calm down and have a mellotron swarm to make it a
wonderful yet beautiful structured sound.

The closer, Sephira, which starts off at first a reprise
from the first track before going into a Sabbath-Crimson like feel with the
saxophone that has an Adante that makes it crisp, powerful, and haunting at the
same time before the narrator closes off the album for the curtain to close
down very slowly. This is a very
interesting band I’m planning to check out sometime in the future and they
really know their obscure prog very well and The Tree of Life is a must listen
to album.

Well, now I’m done with the top 30 albums of 2012, it now
comes to the top 12 reissues of 2012. Since been doing a lot of listening
through my albums and it has been a very heavy completion what came out for
re-released and it was a risky decision to make and here we go!

Saturday, December 29, 2012

There has been some very good music coming out of the States
and in Europe as well and fell into the deep darker territories of the Doom
Metal genre that is completely out of this world. And one of the bands I’ve
discovered is a group called The Hounds of Hasselvander. At first it sounds
like a title from one of the British Hammer Horror films of the ‘60s, but it
really packs a punch and this is their third album, simply titled, The Ninth
Hour, and let me just say it’s one of the most heaviest and sinister albums I’ve
listened to from start to finish.

Joe Hasselvander, who was a part of the band Pentagram and
various bands, he really knows his Doom history very well. And with a dosage of
the first five Black Sabbath albums and his voice resembling Lee Dorrian and Lemmy
Kilmeister of Hawkwind and Motorhead, let’s just say this virtuoso performer
has really come a long way since the ‘70s. The Hounds of Hasselvander started
out as a solo album that Joe released back in 2007, and then it became a band
as a trio and let’s just say they could have recorded the score for the 1973
British Cult Classic, The Wicker Man. And while it’s such a pumped up album, it’s
really just to have a lot of powerful moments in five centerpieces on here.

There’s a lot of energy and thunder from start to finish.
When beginning of the album starts off with the 12-minute title track, it is
really a rumbling nightmarish introduction to get your spine tingling for a
start. Featuring heavy percussion that is a calming turned thumping like rapid
fire machine guns, swirling heavy guitar lines between rhythm and lead while
Hasselvander himself takes it up a notch with his virtuosity to make him push
the envelope and go for it.

Elsewhere, Heavier than Thou has this balls-out homage to
the Overkill-era of Motorhead with a darker attitude featuring a thrashing
metallic punk feel that is eruptive and in your face while the alarm sirens
kicked into full gear of depths into hell on their take of Mountain’s Don’t
Look Back with a dramatic touch and the Occult views on Suburban Witch. However, one of the most powerful compositions
that’s on The Ninth Hour is the last track, The King.

Featuring a soaring yet inspirational orchestral sound
between Organ and the Mellotron in which it has this Horror film background
beauty and then it goes into this NWOBHM on-the-road adventure in the styles of
Angel Witch, plus a chaotic nightmarish surroundings of the guitars and Joe’s
rumbling roaring voice that reflects as if the Beast has awaken to await his
feast and see where he would go with this to tell a story that will terrify the
villagers and would scar them for the rest of eternity.

Alongside other Doom Metal bands, The Hounds of Hasselvander's The Ninth Hour is not an
easy album to listen to from start to finish, but after about the third time I
heard it, I knew that this was a band I have to check out and with its Vintage
Retro ‘70s and early ‘80s sound, they really got something up their sleeves at
the moment and I can’t wait to see what they have next in the near future.

Thursday, December 27, 2012

When a band goes into the voyages of Space and Time, heading
towards the milky way and into different planets of the solar system to meet
new creatures and resolve peace between the humans and alien life forms, then
you probably might want to fasten your seatbelts as a band from Norway are now
the new captains of the Battlestar Galactica. Seid is one of those bands that
know about the Space Rock genre very well.

The band have been around for a couple of years and they
have carried the sounds of Hawkwind’s music very well to make sure to stay true
to the band’s music and hopefully to become the new Masters of the Universe and
the Sonic Rituals of the Space Rock sound. And since this my introduction to
the band’s music, their third album, Magic Handshake, is a raw, heavy, and
in-your-face album that is completely out of this galaxy and make the jump for
light speed, because there’s no turning back once you hear this from beginning,
middle, and end.

From the ferocious introduction of Space Pirates Return,
featuring throbbing sounds of the guitar going into full gear in the styles of;
both Space Metal Punk and adding Swirling synths into the mix, you know that
something special is going to happen. The effects of the noise and punchy rhythm
sounds have this beautiful strategy to make it feel as if they had written this
for the score for the TV series Star Trek and the late Gerry Anderson’s cult
sci-fi classic, UFO.

The soothing late ‘60s psych vibe comes into a dance-like
movement with female vocals on the touching Decode the Glow and adding a heavy
saxophone section to shine through the stars and make it very interesting and
twisted. As the jazzy roaring rock touches on The Dark Star is Waiting and the
chaotic punk edges come back in the controls on Fire It Up and The True Merry
Poppers, it’s the eight minute Indian vibe of peace to calm the heavy sounds
into a darker territory of Tron and the uplifting finale, Sister Sinsemilla
featuring the keyboards setting the background for meditation and spiritual
guidance.

They really provided almost the soundtrack to Stanley
Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey through their sound and vision which is
haunting, spellbinding, hypnotic, and adventurous at the same time. Seid’s
Magic Handshake is not an easy album to listen to, but after a few listens it’s
quite understandable where the band’s music is going into and it has finally
shown how the music can hint at where they might go into the nearest future and
its brighter as ever.

Since the 21st century has been good upon us and
the world not ending this year, the Doom Metal scene has been making some
excellent progress lately to come up with songs dealing with Horror and the
Occult, mixed in with some obscure sounds of the Progressive Rock-era, there’s
been a good feeling and well-structured forms to come along with the two
genres. And one of the most up-and-coming bands from Italy is a four-piece
called Funeral Marmoori and let me tell you, they are really something from the
second listening and very powerful.

It has this volcanic eruption that comes out of nowhere, and
when the sound with a vicious crunchy metallic guitar work and spooky organ
work, it fits everything at the right time at the right place. And when the
moment you hear them, your brain will say “Uh-Oh, when they perform, run like
hell because there’s not a single stop sign in the neck of the woods.” The band
has a dosage of early Metallica, Sabbath, and Van Der Graaf Generator mixed
together as one.

They almost could have written a score for one of the
British Hammer Horror films of the late ‘60s/early ‘70s as its evidential on
the opening title track with elements of sci-fi boundaries with lines of the
nightmares coming to life “I don’t want you and I don’t need you/Under the
starlight I live/With my nightmares with you desire/Now I’ll take you to gloom.”
With some heavy guitar solos, crazy organ and drum work, and a voice resembling
a heavier version of Peter Hammill, this combination works like finding rare
and hidden treasure that hadn’t been open for millions of years.

On the hypnotic rumbling roars of Black Rooster, the band go
into this calming yet satanic psych power and show no sign of stopping with a
lot of thunder and electricity in their sound. At times, they pay tribute to
the Krautrock kings, Amon Duul II and the Sea Shanties-era of High Tide, and
yet like a flaming fire bursting into the night, they go into town for a mighty
and intense session for the last few minutes of the piece and their love of the
genre.

As I’ve mentioned about up-and-coming bands who are going to
make it and are going up the road while trying to reach the light at the end of
the tunnel, Funeral Marmoori are going to reach that light as they take into
spell-binding moments of the dark and sinister atmosphere. And while they have to doom honors in their sleeves on the dystopian merry-go-round carousel feel on Come With Us, the evil orchestral-thrash sounds of Lorenzo Lamas, and the whirlpool of terror of the organ
coming at you into the heavenly sky to attack on Drunk Messiah, their debut album is both
a dooming progressive metal and a challenging album to listen to from beginning
to end.

Tuesday, December 25, 2012

In 1973, King Crimson released one of the most eruptive and
powerful albums to come out of their golden-era when they released, Larks’
Tongues in Aspic. It’s considered among fans the finest album to date and the
best reissue to come out this year that is part of King Crimson 40th
anniversary reissues since their announcement back in 2009. It’s the album that
let the band to go into different territories and it was also a chance for
Robert Fripp to let the band members to go exploring in other areas and do
whatever they want and see where the road will take them into.

Different marks and new members would become the turning
point from the history of King Crimson’s music. After the release of Islands
back in 1971 and after a tour in the states promoting the album in ’72 while
Burrell, Collins, and Wallace joined up with Alexis Korner forming Snape, and
lyricist/co-founder of King Crimson, Pete Sinfield left the band to work as a
producer on Roxy Music’s sole self-titled debut album. Fripp now had complete
control and brought in new members including Bill Bruford of Yes on Drums,
Jamie Muir on percussion, John Wetton of Family on Bass and Lead Vocals, and
violinist/mellotronist, newcomer David Cross.

For Pete’s replacement, Robert brought Richard Palmer-James
from his work with Supertramp to write the lyrics after he left the band due to
tension between Hodgson and Davies. The
music moved away from the fantasy-storytelling that was in the first four
albums into an evil, terrorizing, and vicious jazz rock sound that had an
eruptive roaring quality from a Horror film that just came out of nowhere and
would have the listener’s jaw dropping into unbelievable results. And every time I hear this album, it would
send shivers and goosebumps down my spine in the way they played it and how
they mean it.

The improvisations were there, right from the beginning of
the first note. From Jamie Muir’s thumb piano introduction on Larks' Tongues in
Aspic (Part One) that starts off as a moody lullaby, descends into chaos with
Cross’ dramatic violin work and Fripp’s crunchy guitar work creates this
monster-like sound between the two of them. And then it becomes an attack with terror as
the band lend out a huge thunderstorm before it becomes a Funk Rock driven
session between John’s bass work while the drummers Muir and Bruford just duel
it out on the drumming exercise coming up with some crazy and exciting moments
as Fripp comes up with some crazy and difficult guitar lines which are fast and
mind-blowing at the same time.

Then it becomes a calm after the storm as the soothing Book
of Saturday which deals with fame and how being center of attention can no
longer be fun and games anymore as the soaring and uplifting touches on Exiles,
has this lukewarm darker avant-garde turned gentle touches of a beautiful
sunrise up into the mountains. Then, everything becomes a time-changing workout
with the explosive Easy Money which begins with Tubular Bells, Mud-clapping rhythm,
and John Wetton’s scat solo. Robert lays down the rules with some beautiful
guitar lines that goes into unbelievable results as Muir creates some sound
effects including crumbling paper, and birds whistling to name a few as the
band come in full circle into a dynamic resemblance of The Mahavishnu Orchestra.

Then it’s The Talking Drum which has John Wetton and Bill
Bruford in center stage. Beginning with a wind howling and almost like a
Trumpet echoing out of nowhere as the two of them, going into car race to see
who will win in the final battle. Muir is playing the Bongos like a mad
scientist as Bruford and Wetton create this little haunting line between drums
and bass as Cross creates this terrifying violin solo while the tension
increasing into high volume as Fripp works out with some experiments on his
guitar before it reaches one of the loudest noises of a high-pitch shriek of
Cross’ violin screaming as if the monster has let loose and is ready for a
full-scale attack to terrorize and kill the civilizations like no other as it
segues into the climatic ending, Larks’ Tongues in Aspic (Part Two).

Inspired by Vaughan Williams’ The Lark Ascending as a
tribute and homage to the English composer, it has an evil riff between guitar
and bass, stop-and-go responses, and an earthquake of a finale that will take
you further into the outer limits. In the CD/DVD set, the liner notes are done
by King Crimson expert Sid Smith who is now the Sherlock Holmes of Crimson’s
history, and the album has been carefully re-mastered and re-mixed by Fripp
himself and Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree.

The music itself is loud and powerful and seeing what was
left buried in the multi-track and analog tapes including guitar lines and Muir
crazy antics on the drums by using sheet metal, saw violin, whistle, etc. you
name it and he was like a mad-man on the kit. On the DVD, there is an unseen
performance of the band on Beat Club back in Bremen in 1972 and watching it,
you could see creativity and magic behind the 5-piece. Now if you fancy the
13-CD/Blu-Ray/DVD set, I highly recommend it because there's more rare live
performances and studio sessions during the making of the album including a
downloadable code of the live Rainbow performance as well.

This is a must have for any Prog and Crimson fan to have
underneath the Christmas tree and ask Santa if he’s a True Crimson fan.

Monday, December 24, 2012

(Revamp Version) As we head into a new year in 2013 (no the world is not
going to end this coming Friday), looking back this year, there have been some
amazing prog albums coming out in 2012. Some old and some new in the community,
here are the top 30 Progressive Rock and Metal albums of this year. And of course, criticism
is welcomed.

1. Astra – The Black Chord [Rise Above]

2. Psycho Praxis – Echoes from the Deep [Black Widow]

3. Rush – Clockwork Angels [Roadrunner]

4. Diablo Swing Orchestra – Pandora’s Pinata [Sensory]

5. Electric Swan – Swirl in Gravity [Black Widow]

6. Cailyn – Four Pieces [Land of Oz]

7. Panic Room – Skin [Esoteric Antenna]

8. The Reasoning – Adventures in Neverland [Esoteric
Antenna]

9. Muse – The 2nd Law [Helium/Warner Bros.]

10. Leibowitz – The Beginning of the Endless Search for
Oblivion [STE]

Saturday, December 22, 2012

With a dosage of Symphonic Music, ‘80s Neo-Prog, and
Story-Telling boundaries, up-and-coming Italian Prog band, Flower Flesh give a
huge amount of energy in their debut album, Duck in the Box that is a tribute
to their heroes including; Yes, Marillion, PFM, and Dream Theater in their
hearts and soul. The band was formed in 2005 by bassist Ivan Giribone and
keyboardist Alberto Sigarlato, who decided to create Flower Flesh and not just
to stay tribute to their influences in the Progressive Rock scene, but more of
an homage and honor and keeping the spirit of the genre alive.

With an album cover of Ducks flying into the soaring city and
having this Sci-Fi background feel, the music feels like they have written a
rock opera for the 1976 sci-fi cult classic, Logan’s Run. The band really has
something up their sleeves with their debut album and it’s by far, a spiritual
journey from beginning to end. Beginning with the throttling, Falling in Another
Dimension, with heavy guitar chords/riffs, swirling moog and keyboard tempos
while vocalist Daniel Elvstrom just nails the vocals by going into an rocking
and sometime operatic arrangements that he comes up with.

My Gladness After the Sadness begins with a piano concerto
and classical guitar introduction done by Andrea and Marco Oliveri before they
go into the beautiful touches of a heavy turned melodramatic version of Le Orme
meets Kansas’s music featuring a militant beat in the midsection which
resembles the French Revolution. Elsewhere, It Will Be the End has some heavy
and adventurous turned uplifting beats with guitar and synth with a fantasy
rock background as God Is Evil (Like the Devil) is a jumping yet haunting ‘70s
organ-driven sound to make us feel like its 1972 all over again.

Now when it comes to Prog epics, you know you’re in for a
big surprise. The Race of My Life has a spooky element that could have been
inspired by Edgar Allen Poe’s The Raven featuring sounds of nightmarish beauty,
power metal, jazz rock, atmospheric haunting sounds of a person’s dying wish
with inspirations of Camel, and folk-like touches that makes the piece so
touching and emotional. Antarctica is back to the retro rock sound.

With the sound of the heavy drums, keyboard, and mellotron
touches from the Pawn Hearts-era by Van Der Graaf Generator, Marco Olivieri
creates some mythical and beautiful scenery’s with his guitar as Andrea pays
tribute to Hugh Banton on his keyboards, they go into town and take it into
different time-changes to know the score. The last track, Scream and Die, which
closes the album, is calmness and folky turned operatic metallic atmosphere
dealing with someone who is dying for a confrontation after the person stabs
doesn’t care and watches scream in horrendous pain and die a horrible death.

It’s a disturbing piece, but strong and powerful to close
the track as Daniel Elvstrom goes into his Peter Hammill and James LaBrie
phrase on his vocals to give it all he’s got by adding power and electric energy
to the mix. If you admire Progressive/Power Metal, Obscure along with Symphonic
and Neo-Prog, Flower Flesh’s Duck in the Box, is a tremendous and wonderous
adventure from start to finish. And while this is their first album, hopefully
they might make it into the Prog Circuit in the future and years to come.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Now when you have a concept album, you know that you imagine
the story inside your head while listening to the piece from beginning to end
in this dark and haunting scenery, you know that this would be the perfect
choice to make it for a film score for one of Dario Argento’s films of the
1970s. One of the bands from Italy is il Ballo Delle Castagne. Formed in 2007
and taken their name from Pope Alexander VI, their music mixes this combination
of Heavy Prog, Experimental, Psych, and Avant-Garde music from Germany in the
1970s.

Their third album, Surpassing All Other Kings, is a concept
album based on the life of the hero Gilgamesh who was a Sumerian King by
building the walls of Uruk to help his people defend themselves from threats
and was described as a the two-thirds God and the Third Man. And while this is
my introduction to the band’s music from the Bloodrock label that is a
distributor to Black Widow Records, it is a dark and haunting album that would
take you by surprise.

From the rumbling introduction of Tema di Gilgamesh which
begins with a militant rock orientation for the conquering hero to return to
his home for a celebration followed by a spooky organ and spacey synths and
echoing vocals, resembles a wild combination of Hawkwind and Jacula. Hypnotized
of the galloping drums, wah-wah guitar, and an homage to Antonius Rex, the
gothic scenery of il Risveglio goes through a maddening atmosphere turned into
a deadly nightmare of chaotic structures as they go into this psych-funk rock
jam session vibe on il Viaggio.

It all changes into a droning beat on the guitar before
seguing into a dooming grand classical piano with a nightmarish hell on the
synthesizer with a ghost-like vocals as if it was set in the dystopian universe
on Rorate Coeli and with the inspirational tribute of Amon Duul II’s Deutsch Nepal on
Konigin der Nacht while the thumping hooks on il Segreto and Aquarius Age, has
this zooming psychedelic-nugget late ‘60s vibe, that would have been used in
Ralph Bakshi’s 1977 cult classic, Wizards.

They go back into the Starship enterprise for a dosage of the
Space Rock genre for an amazing voyage on Fire in the Sky that has some crazy
guitar work between the rhythm and lead that is a freak-out adventure into the Milky
Way and inside the territorial black hole. And it becomes a calming relaxation
as it turns into a lush-like sound of mellotron acoustic acid folk on Eoni as
the closer, Apocriphon of Gilgamesh is very political and anti-war piece featuring
Bush’s statement during the War on Iraq and statements from the Soldiers as it
has some background of fighting for peace and justice with the militant snare
drum, horn, and synth makes it show a war for peace can be a tough and risky
situation, but the music itself is a dramatic and emotional beauty for hope.

While I’m sinking my toes into the waters of Black Widow and
Bloodrock Records, they always release some very interesting prog and doom
bands, and this is one of them. I have listened to this about four times and I
have to say that I’m impressed on what I’m hearing. I’m going back to their albums
sometime in the future, and Surpassing all Other Kings is one of the most heart-stopping
and touching albums I’ve ever heard. It’s amazing and you need to listen to it.

Sunday, December 16, 2012

It’s been 22 years since Black Widow Records was launched
back in 1990 when they released obscure gems and new bands from the Italian
Prog and the Doom Metal scene and they released their very first album with a
band called Crystal Phoenix. The band was formed under the spell of a woman
named Myriam Sagenwells Saglimbeni, who was a virtuoso, singer and did the
design cover for the sole self-titled debut album back in 1989.

It has this combination of the New Wave of British Heavy
Metal, Classical, Doom, Gothic Folk, and Prog at the same time from start to
finish while there’s a dosage of fantasy story-telling from the comic-book era
from the realms of Richard Corben as if they were influenced and inspired by
his work for the music of Crystal Phoenix. The album itself is eruptive,
haunting, and operatic at times to really get you going. Like the opening throttling
track, Damned Warrior, resembles the sounds of Angel Witch and Iron Maiden’s music while
474 Anno Domini and Somewhere, Nowhere Battle features some moody acoustic
guitar fingerpicking, dreamy moog, and Celtic Flute work that have this
medieval structure value that puts you back into the Renaissance period of the
15th century.

Loth-er Siniell has this haunting and mourning ballad with a
catholic choir, more of the acoustic crisp sounds including some of the horn and
string-quartet structures on the keyboards that it almost sounds like something
out of an ‘80s version of Trees’ The Garden of Jane Delanwey and I bet it
inspired the Diablo String Orchestra’s sound on Justice For St. Mary to capture
the essence of the Phoenix’s sound and vision. The two-part epics, Heaven to a
Flower and Violet Crystal Phoenix, are one of the most beautiful and disturbing
mini-opera’s that Myriam has written.

There are the touches of thumping drum beats, spooky organ
sounds, heavy guitar lines between rhythm and lead while Myriam belts it out
with her operetta style on her vocals as the instruments carry her to an
uplifting and tension-like calmness to follow where her voice follows her
within the beat as the closer 7-minute epic, Dark Shadow, in which it’s an
homage to the gothic fantasy soap opera from the BBC, resembles a heavier
version of the Fish-era of Marillion before ascending back into the NWOBHM
sound with an homage to the Toccata and Fugue a-la allegro style on the guitar
for a climatic ending.

The bonus tracks feature three of the demos that were
released in 1989 at the time the band were making their debut album while the
2011 retro sounding version of 474 Anno Domini, stays true to the original
composition. While this was the beginning of a new adventure for Black Widow
Records, their first album from the label, is an astonishing adventure on where
they would go next on the road that would take them.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

When Crowned in Earth was launched back in 2008 by virtuoso
Kevin Lawry, he wanted to make something that was beyond into an uncharted
territorial nightmare and set it off with an eruptive explosion and make
something that was staying true to the golden-era of the early ‘70s from 1970
to 1974. The music is a combination of both Progressive and Doom Metal combined
into one and carrying the sounds of Amon Duul II, Black Sabbath, Camel, Atomic
Rooster, and early Deep Purple into the mix, and they are both perfect
ingredients that are a wonderful special meal to go beyond the passages of
time.

Now if they had recorded some film scores for some of the
Italian or Hammer Horror films from that time period, it would be make perfect
sense with this out of this world music that can take you into higher places
with their second album, A Vortex of Earthly Chimes. And who could not forget
such a wonderful album cover that resembles the homage to; Berni Wrightson,
Frank Frazetta, and Richard Corben while it feels like something out of the
stories from the Sci-Fi/Fantasy adult comic book series, Heavy Metal.

As Kevin Lawlry, who is the bees knees behind the band along
with drummer Darin McCloskey, you could tell it’s a combination and thrown in
Brian Anthony to handle some fantastic mellotron samples to fill in the
atmosphere of Crowned in Earth’s music, this is something worth experiencing. The music itself is this wonderful mix of a
film score set in the dystopian sci-fi universe with a dosage of surreal
fantasy of where everything used to be green, goes disastrously wrong with
corruption and war between the good and evil on who will control the city for
truth or greed.

Four centerpieces like the opening 12-minute epic, Ride the
Waves which begins with a haunting lullaby on the toy piano before going into
chaotic structures on the heavy guitars that Kevin does as well as playing the
spooky organ chords by setting the tension for the evil that comes with a heavy
price before it becomes a lushing atmospheric yet moody space adventure and
then going into this wild experimentation between the Phallus Dei and the
Vol.4-era of Duul and Sabbath combined into one.

Then you have the rumbling doomy yet emotional touches of
Watch the Waves that has some classic touches of the Iommi-like guitar styles, ‘80s
moog, mellotron, thumping bass lines, and pummeling drum patterns that make it
an exciting trip while Winter Slumber creates some psychedelic mass turned
calm-like stoner views as Lawlry’s vocals who resembles an operatic version of Richard
Vaughan from Astra. The 10-minute finale, Given Time, at first it sounds like a
haunting psych stoner tribute on T. Rex’s King of the Rumbling Spires. But it becomes a mixture of a beast
roaring with some out of this world guitar solo and organ work in the process
for reign terror of mythical stories that can take you into different levels.

This is my introduction to the band’s music, and Crowned in
Earth’s AVortex of Earthly Chimes is a fun and sinister prog-doom album that will
take you into different planets and make you one day the ruler and the master
of the universe to have full control.

Friday, December 14, 2012

When you have an album that is considered a lost classic
like Locomotive’s We Are Everything You See, Marsupilami’s Arena, or
Metamorfosi’s concept album on Dante Alighieri’s Inferno, they go up for a huge
price on eBay for that one lucky person to have it in their record collection,
but if it’s a one band album that was released in 1972 and never saw the light
of day, it could be a pain in the neck. When Black Widow records finally
reissued this lost and rare gem last year, it’s a piece of hidden treasure that
almost wished they could have been having a cult status in their native
homeland in Italy.

Formed in 1964, the band considered the Ponticiello
brothers, Ugo (vocals) and Raffaele (Guitar), and soon their younger brother,
Vincenzo (Bass) joined in followed by Stefano Melani (Organ) and Giorgio Di
Ruvo (Drums). The band were influenced by what was happening in both the States
and in the UK and they owe debt to Deep Purple and early Black Sabbath in their
music and while the recordings are not in the best condition, it’s still hard
to believe why this band suddenly never saw the light at the end of tunnel.

But the music itself, is raw, energetic, and in your face at
the same time when you listen to it from start to finish. From what I’ve read
online, it’s a concept album about a man’s spiritual journey to find out who he
really is. At times it sounds like they could have recorded the soundtrack to
Alejandro Jodorowsky’s 1970 surreal western midnight classic, El Topo with a
heavy attitude. There’s a lot of power
from the five piece group as they go into a darker, hidden, and haunting
territory that you could tell the sessions were out of this world and sometimes
the scary moments come at you out of nowhere to give you a jump out of the
listener’s seats.

Stefano Melani’s organ has some very doomy and sinister
movements as if he’s paying homage to Julian Jay Savarin and Peter Bardens to
create some heavy atmosphere while Raffaele Ponticiello’s guitar work is very
crunchy and have this garage-rock sound at the same time with a fuzztone
attitude as Ugo’s vocals at times it has a very bluesy and soulful sound, but
can carry the notes where his brothers would take him into whether its high or
low on his arrangements, they let him know they have his back.

This is something that needs some attention and Spettri’s
hidden sole self-titled album from ’72, is an astonishing lost classic and by
far, it’s a twisted and daring piece of work. For fans who admire the obscure
Hard Rock and Prog, Spettri’s music is worth the wait.

The influences of Prog-Rock and Doom Metal from the ‘70s can
be a perfect match and an excellent combination, and when you have a band
coming from the land of France, you can expect something quite interesting with
this. Northwinds have been around since their formation in 1990 and their
fourth album, Winter, is a relaxing and haunting experience. And since this is
my introduction to the band’s music, I have to say that this year, there have
been some amazing bands that are carrying the spirit of the two genres and
they’re making sure the music is still alive.

Turned to Stone opens the album with a terrifying
instrumental with an orchestral background as it goes through a danger of
something evil is about to happen in the woods by featuring swoops of the choir
on the Mellotron and the Moog synthesizer as the bass and drums follow along
with a simple pattern of the beats to add the tension of the scenery. The
7-minute Land of the Dead, which features some Sabbath-inspired riffs, has some
very mellowing and loud-like tempos between guitar, bass, drums, vocals, and
the Hammond organ.

At times the piece sounds like something that could have
been used for Ralph Bakshi’s 1983 animated cult classic, Fire and Ice while the
pounding and enormous turned atmospheric crunch on Last Chance, they view into
a hallucinating environment of a city gone wrong. Their take of Angel Witch’s
Gorgon, begins with an Gothic Folk session with flute and mellotron for the
first three minutes before getting into a driven force of pummeling action by
staying true to the piece and a fitting tribute to one of the most overlooked
bands in the history of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal and they know their
love of the genre so much.

There are some moments of Julian’s Treatment and the Sabbath
Bloody Sabbath-era in the composition, Black Tower. Showing more of the dark
and cavernous touches where Northwinds have this doomy groove and then becoming
a stirring power of a wicked layered edge. Then we come to the 22-minute epic title track, and its completely out of this world. It begins with a powerful organ
session for the first three minutes and then into calm early Floyd-like session
in the styles of Saucerful of Secrets and Atom Heart Mother.

The closing track, their take of Saint Vitus’ Thrasy Doom
taste on Clear Windowpane, begins with a mellowing punk-doom-metal eruption
with a funky wah-wah guitar sound, makes the piece a perfect way to finish the
album off. For a band who have of both Prog and Doom, Northwinds’ Winter is not
easy listen to, but after a few times, I’ve gotten quite a hang of it and this
is a band, I’ll explore in the future and what they will have up their sleeves.

Let’s set the scenery, its 1973, and there’s an
up-and-coming band from Italy that know the score with a heavy rock touch by
adding the sounds of Blues and Psychedelic music up a notch featuring a female
vocalist whose resembles Janis Joplin and can sing very damn well. That band of
course, is Electric Swan and they have a huge nod to Led Zeppelin, ELP, Grand
Funk Railroad, and Leaf Hound. Their second album Swirl in Gravity, which sounds like an episode out of Rod Serling's The Twilight Zone, manage to keep the retro
sound true and with a lot of pure energetic high voltage.

For example on End of Time, Paolo “Apollo” Negri does some
keyboard and synth swirling terror that have a Keith Emerson and Jon Lord feel
as Lucio “Swan” Calegari goes into a Jimmy Page feel on the guitar resembling
Heartbreaker that is pummeling and strong before ending with a spacey
atmospheric moog into different voyages of the solar system. The soothing Lonely Skies still carries the
same inspiration on the third track but with some powerful bass lines that Edo
Giovanelli has got into his magical fingers by going into different frets as he
and Apollo go into the city of bass and organ that is a very funky and metallic
vibe.

The coolness vibe on Wicked Flower has an uplifting raunchy
soulful bluesy rock feel that is a kick in the gut as Swan just nails his
guitar technique by making wail and scream while Apollo helps him with some
soaring organ sounds to match the solo and paying tribute to Tony Iommi a-la
wah-wah style! Garden of Burning Trees which features saxophonist Clive Jones
from Black Widow, is a haunting jazzy doomy psych ballad as Jones goes into a
John Coltrane-like solo that is a relaxation and calm-like atmosphere while the
thumping tribute to Joplin on Move Over that Monica Sardella does, she’s not
trying to rip off the Princess of Blues Rock, but paying tribute and show how
much she can belt out her work and as if Janis is watching her, and is in tears
of Monica’s voice.

It’s a perfect tribute and explosive at the same time as the
band stay true to the piece from the Pearl sessions while the opening title
track goes through a bluesy heavy Deep Purple trace with a spacey moog sound to
get you in your motorcycle for an adventure into the grand canyon as the
closer, Drag My Mind, has a slow and a late ‘60s groove that features more
guitar layered structures between rhythm and lead section that Swan does.

For an up-and-coming band which started out as a solo project that Lucio
Calegari began at first from his days with Wicked Minds, it’s quite possible
that Electric Swan are soon going to hit the Prog festivals sometime in the
future and this album and the band needs a lot of recognition big time. A must
have album for this year.

The touches of British and Italian Prog Rock can have a
quick inspiration in the sounds of Pink Floyd, Gentle Giant, Jethro Tull,
Premiata Forneria Marconi and Metamorfosi and there are some great bands that
are carrying the sounds of the golden-era of the 1970s and staying true to the
roots of the Progressive genre. It’s quite amazing how a lot of the sounds are
taking a lot of the bands and carrying the torch and help wave the flag of the
revival.

There is this up-and-coming band from the outskirts of Italy
called Psycho Praxis, and their debut album Echoes from the Deep is an
adventure through the cosmic voyages of both time and space. Filled with a
roaring yet driven organ sound and a dosage of heavy flute work and not to
mention some electrifying guitar sounds that they have brought to the table for
a lot of ingredients to cook up a wonderful homage to the bands that they have
admired, Psycho Praxis have created something special and out of this world.

The album is a mixture of the obscure and the mythical
surroundings. And with the opening track, Privileged Station and P.S.M, they
come at you at with a hypnotic atmosphere. With a touch of the French Prog-band
Ange thanks to Paolo Tognazzi’s keyboard work, Paolo Vacchelli’s heavy guitar
rhythm, and Andrea Calzoni’s vocals and his flute styles, is a tribute to Ian
Anderson as if the master himself is watching and is very pleased on what’s
going on.

Hoodlums begins with a Hendrix-inspired introduction solo
that Paolo does before it becomes an elevating and astounding yet a vivid supernatural
composition for a 7-minute adventure while the haunting gothic 9-minute acid
folk experience of Black Crow for the first few minutes of a dystopian lullaby
and the tension is very high as it goes into the soaring clouds while Paolo’s
sound of acoustic and electric can take you into a different area.

Then you have a fuzzy bass line work from Matteo Marini and
some thunderous drum work done by Paolo’s brother, Matteo as they get into work
and go into town for a forceful psychedelic jam session for the last few
minutes. Awareness is Paolo Tognazzi
moment to be in center with his wonderful keyboard work by paying homage to
Pink Floyd’s Meddle-era into the Van Der Graaf Generator meets King Crimson's Lizard period.

The band follow Paolo’s organ work by going into a Leslie
Piano sound into a fuzztone surroundings while Andrea does a Jazzy solo on the
flute and you can tell Paolo inspiration of the keyboard goes into the styles
of Hugh Banton, Flavio Premoli, Richard Wright, and Tony Banks as the guitar
goes into overdrive before setting a calm-like climatic punch. The closer,
Noon, the band are now in full circle as it goes into various genres of Eclectic,
Jazz, Folk, and Psych and it shows that they could have written a sci-fi piece
as Andrea comes in at the last few minutes to give a sermon .

I have listened to Echoes from the Deep about six times
already and it’s a knockout debut of a band that can take the genre a bit
further and they take it to an exhilarating, undertaking, and an enchanted
piece of work they have brought.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

When you have a dark and an electronic atmosphere, you know
something is about to happen. One of the most interesting bands is a duo called
Haiku Funeral. They have a combination of Industrial, Post, Experimental,
Avant-Garde, and Death Metal surroundings in their work and their third album,
Nightmare Painting, is one of the most terrifying and scariest albums I’ve ever
heard this year. Most of it reminded me of something out of the score for the
‘80s sci-fi cult classics, Blade Runner and The Terminator and while this album
is not easy to listen to, it makes you feel that you are trapped inside a
dungeon and there’s no turning back.

There are touches of; haunting synthesizers, vicious
metallic bass lines, choirs, Jekyll and Hyde vocalizations between the good and
evil, it’s all right there and they really got something that is beyond the
score of the Horror genre. The sounds of the clean vocalizations in the realms
of Venom’s Count Cronos from William Kopecky and the grasping shrieking vocals
of Dimitar Dimtrov, who resembles an earlier incarnation of Per Yngve “Dead”
Ohlin from Mayhem. Now while I’m not a huge fan of the Black and Death Metal
scene, this band is very interesting and they know their love of Horror and
Satan very well.

Beginning with the Doomy Jazzy post-apocalyptic twist of
String Bass, Moog, and electronic drum samples of The Nightmare Door and seguing
into Blacklight Amniotic Erotica that resembles My Life with the Thrill Kill
Kult and the Downward Spiral-era of Nine Inch Nails. And then, everything
becomes chaotic with the wildly bass and drums, work that becomes a
thunderstorm on the Scorpion Ritual while Behemoth Rising becomes a calming yet
screeching turned monotone views of Forbidden Love and Alchemy of Pentagrams.

Raining Nightbirds is an avant-garde atmospheric electronic
scenery paying homage to the Krautrock scene of the ‘70s and becomes a
futuristic terror of a dystopian city along with The Flags of a New Empire Burn
that lets everyone know that this world that they are living in is not what you
expected it to be. The Gothic structures of Death Poem, is synth and an eerie
crisp of different styling’s on the acoustic guitar to give it an ambient
rainfall while Heavy Breasted Innocence goes into the Industrial Metal dance
mode featuring a punchy yet jazz bass lines, monotones, and synths go into
space and time.

Your Heart a Black Tunnel, sounds like a mourning yet
atmospheric background between electronic drums and a moody rhythm as it feels
like the ending credits for the 1994 film, The Crow as Damnation, which closes
the album is back into the Avant-Garde sounds as they pay homage to a darker
version of the Future Days-era of CAN. This is not an easy album to listen to,
but Nightmare Painting is almost the soundtrack for an Italian Horror film that
could have been used in the 1980s that would have sends the audience into a
mental institute.

Remember if you are really ready to listen to this album,
you are 100% warned and get ready to embark on something beyond the doors for a
dosage of the three genres between; Black Metal, Post-Rock, and the Avant-Garde
sounds of Krautrock with a Spacey attitude in the ‘70s.

Monday, December 3, 2012

Like a eruptive flaming fire
going at 100 miles per hour, Rush show no sign of stopping and they’ve been
around since day one and their formation in 1974 and they are letting the fans
know that “We’re here and we have brought something for you to make you understand
how much you meant your support to us.” They had been very busy lately with the
2010 documentary that Sam Dunn had worked on along with being nominated into
the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame for next year, and it makes you wonder what they
have up their sleeves.

The result is their 20th
album, Clockwork Angels, released this year and this one hell of an album from
start to finish. They have done several concept pieces since 1976 with
compositions like; 2112, Cygnus X-1: Book I & II, The Nercomancer, The
Fountain of Lamenth, and Jacob’s Ladder to name a few, this time they released
in what I believe their very first concept album, set in the steampunk universe
of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century.

The two tracks, Caravan and
BU2B, which were released as singles about a year ago, in which they both start
off a roller-coaster ride into another dimension which has some mind-blowing
guitar and bass work and not to mention the pumping drum works of the master
trio; Alex, Geddy, and Neil. The album is now a novelization done by sci-fi
writer Kevin J. Anderson in which it was inspired by Neil’s songwriting, about
Owen Hardy who is living a fresh life, and moves to Crown City, but is caught
in the middle of the town gone wrong from strict rules and control from The
Watchmaker and war from The Anarchist.

I imagine the story would
one day be made into a movie, but let’s get straight into the review. There are
some elements of the story including the hypnotic title track in where our hero
is moving into the city to start a new beginning in which at the last 2-minutes
has a spooky folk-rock touch as Geddy’s voice is spoke through a Leslie speaker
before they go back into the stars while Carnies starts off with a
Merry-Go-Round music gone wrong before it becomes this heavy whirlpool of
terror with some sinister guitar echoing chords and intense movements that
feels like straight out of the Japanese animated series, Fullmetal Alchemist.

There’s also the political
symphonic powerhouse with the string ensemble on The Wreckers, which has some
elements of Erik Larson’s novel, Devil in the White City as Headlong Flight,
reminded me of Bastille Day from Caress of Steel, is pure retro ‘70s heavy
bullet train rock as the boys go into town. The uplifting and rising Wish Them
Well, is a combination of the three of a, thumping, emotional, and spiritual
piece as if to look around at your past to say good-bye and moving forward as
the closer, which features the string quartet on the 6-minute piece, The
Garden, in which you need Kleenex for this, is a wonderful and magical closer
for the curtain to drop.

I have listened to Clockwork
Angels about four times already and I’m hooked. I don’t know if its going to be
album of the year, but for Rush, they have reached the light at the end of
tunnel, and have finally succeeded.

Sunday, December 2, 2012

It’s been a while since we’ve heard anything from Diagonal’s
music. Four years ago, they came into the Prog scene like a volcanic eruption
with the release of the sole self-titled debut album released on
the Rise Above Records label with its homage to ‘70s obscure prog and jazz rock
that was out of this world. Now in 2012, they are back and are now the new
commanders of the Millennium Falcon with the release of their second album, and
let’s just say it keeps getting better for them.

The Second Mechanism, is the ultimate science-fiction trip
into outer space and it’s the album that will take you beyond the voyages of
time and space with different time signatures, heavier keyboard, bass, and
guitar lines along with some crazy sax solos, knowing this isn’t your daddy’s
prog album. The opener, Voyage / Paralysis, which starts off with sounding like
a computer going haywire before the pumping drums and fuzztone bass lines while
the band goes into full gear.

The sound of the composition, has the sounds of; early Crimson, Black Sabbath, Premiata Forneria Marconi, and Van Der Graaf
Generator in the midsection with a swirling sound of the moog, spacey guitar
lines, thunderous percussion beats, and a jazzy bass line filling up the walls.
These Yellow Sands, has this beautiful saxophone solo and choir-like
vocalizations along with a mellowing and bluesy guitar solo that its terrifying
like a horror film from the ‘60s before it becomes a fast-driven finale to make
it a combining forces of Jazz, Prog, and Stoner Rock into one.

Mitochondria, which is named after an organ in the cytoplasm
that function energetic productions, starts off with this doomy bass line as
the guitar and sax come in by doing a Danny Elfman-like introduction for the
first two minutes of the piece before it goes into a middle-eastern ‘70s jazz
rock up tempo dance that reminded me of King Crimson’s Lizard-era along with
the 10-minute epic, Hulks. It features vocals, along with very mellowing and
mourning scenery as the band go into a Doom-Prog-Metal format for a suspenseful
thriller with some intense sax solo and how they take it up a notch and go beyond
the beyond.

The last track, Capsizing, which begins with an atmospheric introduction
with a touch of Space and Kraut-Rock. At first it’s a new age sound between
keyboard and bass, before it becomes a fast-speeding adventure of reminiscing
Manfred Mann’s Chapter Three meets CAN and you have to understand why they
admire the obscure gems of the Prog scene and how they stay true to the roots
and know how the revival still keeps on coming.

Diagonal are now my favorite band now and this is one of the
most heart-stopping and jaw-dropping albums to come out of 2012. If they do a
score for a Sci-Fi or a Horror film, I’ll be there for it and show my support.
I have listened to this seven times and its mind-blowing, and you need to buy
this, a highly recommended album from start to finish.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

It’s hard to imagine a band staying together for two years
before calling it a day and creating something beautiful and magical at the
same time. And there was one band that was considered; iconic, influential, and
obscure, was a band called Cressida. They were a part of the Vertigo family and
it’s just amazing in a way they sounded with only two albums they released from
1970 to 1971 (Cressida and Asylum). And here on this 2-CD set released by the
good people from Esoteric Recordings, shows how not just they were Progressive,
but a combination of Hard, Classical, Folk, Jazz, and Soul they have in their
roots, proves to be something spectacular.

Since I’ve championed them back in 2011, it is quite obvious
that they are now one of my favorite bands and how their music can be a
touching yet moving experience to discover on why this band were way ahead of
their time. Their first sole-self titled debut album is more of a spiritual and
sensitive arrangement that Cressida brings to you with a true gift of honor and
a warm-welcome to embark on an amazing ride that is imaginative and innovative.
Not to mention some beautiful centerpieces on the album as well.

From the moment you hear the symphonic One of a Group, which
has some wonderful flourish organ solo work that Peter Jennings does by paying
tribute to a Pre-Tony Banks while guitarist John Heyworth just keeps on going and
follows Peter’s hands to see where he’s going with this before ending with a
Thelonious Monk piano outro. Then there’s the graceful To Play Your Little
Games, which starts off as a sermon then goes into the Psych-Prog-Waltz in the
¾ time signature while the folky touches of Time For Bed and the haunting
Spring ’69 gives them a chance to take a break on their organ exercises for a
mellowing and poignant numbers.

Meanwhile, the homage to Bach’s Toccata and Fugue turned
into an elevating structure on Depression, is raw and intense as John Heyworth
goes into overdrive with his guitar solo as the band follow his work wherever
they take him to into different places while Down Down has a passionate beauty
that has a Fantasy atmospheric story-telling structure. Then you have The Only
Earthman In Town, which sounds like a short story from The Martian Chronicles
by the late great Ray Bradbury has this exciting and sci-fi feel in which the
band are in full circle and are in control and captains of the universe as
Tomorrow is a Whole New Day which has a militant turned angelic feel, almost
sounds like the Rebirth of a new world has begun and a new day has started.

Asylum, released in 1971, as the band stayed true to their
sound from the first album, uses a lot of the Symphonic/Orchestral arrangements
along with Brass, captures the listener to go into these pieces of songwriting
into a whole new level. Again, on Reprieved, Jennings captures the spirit of
Monk as Angus Cullen scats as the band into a walking Jazz dance while he has a
gentle side on the warm-like sunrise with a spooky organ section on Summer
Weekend of a Lifetime.

But it’s the 9-minute epic, Munich, which is where Cullen
himself shines in this part. You have this wonderful string section that sets
the tone as the band in the mid-part go into some Psych-Soul Waltz before the
last few minutes as it goes back into the haunting introduction as Angus just
sings his heart out with the line, “Am I reading into this or that is really
there?/Do I really care?/Is it just the Aura of Everything combined?/Dogging up
my mind?/Mitigating circumstances all you seem to blame/Though it’s all the
same/Now I can really say I know cause I’ve been there/Know cause I’ve been
there, I’ve been there.”

It is so powerful and emotional, that you could tell how you
almost couldn’t play, because of how beautifully structured it is. While Munich
is Cressida’s centerpiece, the 11-minute epic, Let Them Come When They Will, is
another highlight on the album that deserves some recognition. It has a bit of
a Doors resemblance beginning John Culley’s catchy acoustic folk-like chords as
Angus sings the melody that John plays before string quartet comes in before he
and Peter go into town with some wonderful improvisations between both electric
and the powerful Hammond organ along with Iain Clark’s powerful percussion drum
work that goes along with it that gets some tempos into a flaming fire.

Then Angus comes back and really nails it with his
vocalization by singing his heart out that makes it a perfect way for bassist
Kevin McCarthy to go into full swing with some wonderful jazzy bass lines as
the band go into finale mode. The elevating piece, Lisa, which has a powerful
orchestral arrangement and session musician, flautist Harold McNair, brought
some wonderful flute-like work for the melody. The bonus tracks on the album
are the real key that features demos that go back in 1969 and never-before-heard
BBC sessions they did for Sounds of the Seventies.

There’s the powerful thumping Mental State that features a
heavy introduction between McCarthy, Culley, and Jennings doing some
magnificent creativity between the three of them while Situation, which was
originally going to be on the first album, but never made it on the album, they
go into full gear as Cullen sings about a person who is trying to figure what
he or she did was right or wrong “Do you remember saying all the words you
said?/I can hear them moving round within my head/I’ve got a situation, but I
don’t know right from wrong”

It’s a shame the track never made it on the album, but it’s
a deep and stand-out track. The band called it a day back in ’71 and the albums
are still selling for an expensive price and while they reunited in December of
last year at the Camden Underworld, it’s hard to believe where the band could
have gone if they were still together. Their music is still part of the
underground and obscure prog scene that shows they were ahead of their time.

Monday, November 19, 2012

Cailyn Lloyd or Cailyn for
short is about to be one of the most up-and-coming guitarist to come out of not
just the Progressive Rock scene, but from the symphonic and virtuoso sounds of
the future. And her solo instrumental album, Four Pieces, is a tribute to the
classical pieces from Dvorak, Tallis, Barber, and one she had written as well.
It is a laid-back and calming sound that is a testament to the atmospheric
background of a waves crashing like an explosion going off that is beautiful
and makes you feel that this album will take you into different worlds.

From inspirations like;
Steve Hackett, David Gilmour, Robert Fripp, and Brian May, Cailyn approach to
the orchestral genre is well-structured, harmonic, and spot-on that are set as
a soundtrack to the wildlife documentaries that you see on National Geographic
and on PBS as well. For example, the opening 13-minute suite, Fantasia, which
is based on Fantasia on a Theme, is a moving and touching type of instrumental
that has a resemblance of Yes and Queen’s earlier days that lifts with a
heavenly angelic vibe.

Meanwhile, Largo, which was
influenced and inspired by Dvorak’s New World Symphony, has an emotional bluesy
feel. Cailyn uses different ideas on the guitar to come up with a view on
renewal and rebirth after the storm and starting a new beginning and a new
future that will lay upon them as the drums and keyboard section takes Cailyn’s
work into an uplifting level and paying homage to Gilmour with some mellowing
and high notes that hit you in the gut that comes out of nowhere.

Adagio, has this New Age and
Atmospheric dramatic tempo on dealing with a loss one and mourning them and
remembering their days in childhood, marriage, and death. Cailyn just takes it
into a spiritual journey as she reaches those notes and goes into a different
vibe from one point to another while the tension and vibe is emotional and raw
coming at you as both drums and the sound of a grand piano moves like a last
dance in 4/4 timing.

Then, its Cailyn’s first
composition she wrote called, Nocturne that closes the album. Here, she has
heart and soul by writing a wonderful soothing piece that has this mellowing
structured boundary. Some of the time, it reminded me of Bo Hansson’s Lord of
the Rings in where he plays all the instruments except drums as the sound
effects of the ocean, birds chirping, and the vibe of dawn approaching of a way
to begin your life around.

She pays homage to the
guitarist she admired and also to Pink Floyd, Genesis, Queen, Yes, and I’ve
mentioned before the late great Bo Hansson, but Four Pieces is almost the
soundtrack to a documentary or animated film that is released at the right time
at the right place. Let’s see what she might have up her sleeves in the 2010’s
for us.

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About Me

I'm a blogger/freelance writer from Houston, TX who writes album reviews because I enjoy it. Even though, I'm not the best writer, there is no stop sign for me. I have a love of Progressive Rock music, Jazz Fusion, and Early Heavy Metal music from the '60s to the early '80s. I went to HCC (Houston Community College) for nine years and have completed my degree in Music in Performance: Jazz Studies. I've been writing Progressive Rock and Symphonic Metal reviews starting back in 2008 on my blogsite and it never gets old.